Resident poll

In an online poll conducted Thursday, the Gazette asked whether residents believe that politicians at the federal, provincial and municipal level “should be limited on how long they can hold their seats.” Forty-two per cent of those polled answered with “yes, it is about time,” while another 33 per cent said no, because “we would quickly run out of political leaders with experience.”Eight per cent said they were not sure because of a “history of great leaders who have served a long time.” Seventeen per cent said there should be “different term limits for different positions.”

Some St. Albert residents, surveyed after Alberta Progressive Conservative leadership contender Jim Prentice announced Thursday that he would limit the amount of time provincial politicians spend in office, appear to like the idea.

The restrictions would be three terms for members of the legislature and two terms for premiers. The changes would be grandfathered in and would be the first of their kind in Canada.

“Why do you have to stay with one politician, one person?” resident Jamal Cherkaoui said. “It's nice to see a different idea and it's fair. To me one person feels like a dictatorship.”

Other residents shared that sentiment, including Bryan Martin who thinks politics tend to get stale once someone stays in office too long.

And Dave Gray said term limits should be introduced to deal with the shortage of dedicated leaders in the country. Politicians on limited terms would be “in it” for the people, instead of money or power, he said, adding that the limits should apply to all levels of government, including municipal leaders.

“Terms are probably one step in the right direction. Because the right candidates would apply,” he said. “It should not be about money, but about the people.”

Political response

St. Albert's political leaders, however, were of mixed opinions.

Mayor Nolan Crouse said voters, and not the law, should decide how long a person can stay in government.

“If you have a weak MLA or a weak mayor or a weak councillor, the voters will make that determination,” he said. “If it's a strong person, then the voters will determine that perhaps they like to have the person (stay in office) longer.”

Introducing term limits may force change but will also lead to more instability because of a lack of experience, he said. He also fears that term limits would drive people from office who could have been great leaders otherwise, he said.

Coun. Cam MacKay said that term limits are not the most effective system of checks and balances on political leaders. He would prefer a system of a provincial ombudsman and a municipal auditor general instead, he said.

But he would welcome a system to keep politicians from becoming “too entrenched in the political game,” he said.

St. Albert MLA Stephen Khan said he can see the merits on both sides of the argument.

Any organization benefits from new ideas and new people, he said. But there are also politicians that have remained in office for a long time and have done an “exceptional job,” he said. “And part of what makes them exceptional is their experience.

“From that perspective losing some of that experience and losing some of the people who are good at their jobs just because of the term limits might be a bit of a detriment.”

He added that it should remain up to the people to decide who will serve them and for how long.

Provincial Finance Minister Doug Horner, MLA for Spruce Grove and St. Albert, agreed, saying he has not seen the rationale for introducing term limits and questioned the constitutional legality of the change.

He added that there have been politicians who have done good work over many terms.

“I think just because you had a job for a long time doesn't mean you shouldn't have it anymore,” he said. “I put a lot of faith in the constituents of our constituency to make their choice and to have their choice and not be limited by that by arbitrarily saying that the candidate can't run.”

Constitutional issues

University of Alberta law professor Eric Adams said limiting terms for premiers or MLAs is contrary to the Canadian charter. Section 3 of the charter protects the right of citizens to vote and to run for membership in either parliament or the provincial legislature, he said.

“So if you have the right to run to be a member of the provincial legislature, how can you then have a law which in effect prevents you from doing that,” he said.

He added that rights under the charter can be limited in certain circumstances.

Should Prentice pass legislation that would limit political terms, the courts would have to decide whether it would be an infringement of Section 3 or a reasonable limit, he said, adding that the term limits would then only apply in Alberta, not in other provinces.

Adams said Prentice may also try to make limited terms a rule of the Progressive Conservative Party rather than introducing it as an Alberta law.

“He may do it as an internal party matter and that maybe is what he has to do if he is serious about implementing this idea,” he said.

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